Look, there's no getting around it: the 90s were nuts. Be it the likes of Nirvana and Faith No More ruining Top Of The Pops, the chaos of the infamous Guns N' Roses and Metallica tour or, y'know, just nu metal, it was a decade where rock music threw up some of the most bizarre, obscene and straight-up hilarious moments of its long and storied history.
Metal's 90s peak may well have been the moment when Peter Steele, the sarcastic, pitch-black witted, vampiric heartthrob frontman of gothic metal icons Type O Negative, made an unlikely appearance on hallmark, controversy-courting chat show behemoth The Jerry Springer Show in 1995. As you can see from the since-posted Youtube footage of Steele's unlikely TV spot, it remains a wildly entertaining watch.
Appearing as part of a segment dedicated to rock groupies, Steele strides out from the back and takes a seat on the stage, much to the clear delight of some of the ladies in the studio. Immediately showcasing the deceptively tongue-in-cheek brand of gloom he was famous for, when asked by Springer if he's happy to be on the show, he simply replies: "I'm less miserable."
After admitting that he finds the attention he gets from female fans "odd", Steele later goes on to recount a hilarious anecdote involving a particularly forward fan turning up to his house and...well...his mother is involved. We won't spoilt it, so you best have a look for yourself.
We sense that a lot of what's going on here would just not fly on mainstream television today. Oh, and if all this wasn't enough - as Jerry Springer himself notes, Steele was on the cover of Playgirl that very year. Like we said: the 90s.
Peter Steele fronted Type O Negative until his death from sepsis caused by diverticulitis on April 14, 2010. Following Steele's death, Type O Negative's remaining members confirmed that they would not be continuing the band. Their final album, Dead Again, was released in 2007.
